Fabric cutting and stitching machine



A. H. DE'VOE. FABRIC CUTTING AND STITCHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION ,FILED DEC. 22, I917.

Patented July 12, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOI? m/fMM/i v A TTORNEY A. H. DE VOE.

FABRIC CUTTING'AND STITCHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-22,1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. INI/f/I'TUR WW Wag Patented July 12, 1921.

A. H. DE v 05. FABRIC CUTTING AND STITCHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-2Z,-I9I1- Patented July 12, 1921.

I 22 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- :I'IIIIIIIII III III III CE I NI/EIVTOR I A TTOR/VEY A. H. DE VOE.

FABFHC' CUTTING AND STITCHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FI LED own, 1911.

1,384,5 1 9. Patented July 12, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

I/WENTOI? aim/KM A 7TORNE Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT H. VOE, OF WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FABRIC CUTTING AND STITGHING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 12', 1921.

Application filed December 22, 1917. Serial No. 208,377.

1 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT H. Dr. Von, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVestfleld, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fabric Cutting and Stitching Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to sewing machines wherein a fabric-cutting mechanism is combined with the stitch-forming mechanism, in order that the fabric may be cut and stitched in one operation. The invention relates particularly to machines adapted to trim one or more of a plurality of superposed layers of fabric in advance of the needles, whereby the cut layer may be stitched to a layer of mate'- rial which has not been cut.

Machines of this type are commonly used by underwear manufacturers for appliqu work and also for the operation known as necking, disclosed, for example, in the patent to Scott, No. 880,829 of March 3, 1908. Such machines commonly employ cutting knives one of which projects upwardly through an aperture in the throat plate and coacts with another knife to cut a slit in the body of the under layer of fabric without cutting the upper layer. The upwardly projecting fabric-separating and cutting knife is necessarily light and delicate in construction and a delicate needlelike point must be maintained at the for ward extremityof the knife to pierce the knife is liable to suffer injury on account of its exposed position above the cloth-plate and it is diflicult and troublesome to maintain the delicate piercing point in operative condition. Because of the fact that the trim ming knives merely cut a slit in the under layer of fabric, it has heretofore been neces sary to provide means above the throat-plate for deflecting one of the cut edges out of the range of action of the stitch-forming mechanism so that it will not be'stitch-ed.

The present invention has for an object to provide a trimming mechanism having no delicate exposed parts projecting above the cloth-plate. l

A further object of the invention is to provide a trimming mechanism in which the use of a lighter frail trimmingknife in an exposed position above the throat-plate is eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide trimming mechanism including a single movable knife-element for cutting a narrow strip of material from the body and between the edges of a ply of material, the major portion of which lies substantially in a plane.

Still further, the invention has for. an object to provide a trimming and stitching machine for necking, applique work,or the like, in which the use of an edge-deflector for deflecting one of the cut edges of the lower ply out of the range of action of the stitch-forming mechanism is eliminated.

Further objects of the invention will appear from. the following description and claims.

The present machine comprises trimming mechanism for removing a narrow strip of material from the body and between the edges of one of a plurality of superposed plies to afford spaced edge-portions of ma terial, and. covering stitch forming mechanism for securing one of the cut edges to an uncut ply; a needle of the machine entering the space between the cut edges afforded by the removal of the narrow strip, thus avoiding the use of edge deflecting means such as heretofore employed.

The trimming mechanism comprises trimming means preferably in the form of shearing knives mounted to operate in a normally ineffective position below the plane of the upper surface of the throat-plate and fabric bending or deflecting means for deflecting the fabric to a position within the range of action of said trimming means or knives, The fabric-deflecting means comprises a fabricdeflector preferably in the form of a bar mounted to reciprocate in the head of the machine and carryingv a blunt chiselshaped blade at its lower end. The deflector presses the superposed plies of material into a recess or aperture in the throat-plate to form a depression, angle or corrugation in the fabric in advance of the needles; the knives being so positioned as to slice or shear off the lower ply at the vertex of the angle or, in other words, at the apex of the corru 'ation, while missing the other ply or plies. cans are provided for rendering the trimming mechanism effective and ineffective while the machine is in operation, In the present instance, such means are manually controlled and may be manipulated at the will of the operator to hold the fabric-deflector out of engagement with the work or to release the fabric-deflector and permit it to perform its functions. The present mechanism 'is not limited to use as a necker but is of general utility and may be used to trim the edgeportion of a body-fabric, in which case the fabric-deflector serves to present or depress: the edge-portion of fabric to the cutting means.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying the invention; the needle being at its highest point. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the machine with the needle at its lowest point. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the machine head and mechanism adjacent the stitching point. Fig. 4 is a crosssection on the line 4l.1, Fig. 2, on an exaggerated scale, showing fabric material in position to be operated upon by the trimming means. Fig. 5 is a similar view after the trimming means has acted upon the fabric to remove the narrow strip which is shown in section. Fig. 6 is. a cross-section of the worlesupport and fabric at the stitching point. Fig. 7 is a cross-section on the line 7-7, Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line 88, Fig. 3. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the throat-plate and adjacent mechanism. Fig. 10 is a similar view with sections of the throat-plate removed to reveal the movable cutting element. Fig. 11 is a view illustrating fabric material which has been cut and stitched by the present machine.

In the preferred embodiment of the inven tion, as illustrated, the machine is con structed with a frame having the usual bed 1, standard 2 and bracket-arm 3 terminating in the hollow head 41-. The bed 1 carries the forwardly and rearwardly disposed supporting pillars 5 and 6, respectively, which carry the throat-plate 7 and assist in supporting the usual cloth-plate 8. Journaled in the bed 1 is the main-shaft 9 which is formed with a crank 10 connected by the pit man 11, housed within the standard 2, to the crank-arm 12 fixed to the oscillating needle-driving shaft 13; the latter being journaled as usual in the bracket-arm 3. y i

The oscillating needle-driving shaft 13 carries at its forw ard end a crankarm 14 which is connected by means of the usual link 15 to the reciprocating needle-bar 16 carrying, in the present instance, the spaced eyepointed needles 17, which cooperate with suitable loop-taker mechanism such as the thread-carrying looper 18 located below the throat plate 7; j The work is fed by means of a suitably actuated four-motion feed-dog 19 with which cooperates a presser-foot 20 fixed to. the presser-bar 21 journaled in the head 4 in it will be seen that the throat-plate 7 is formed in front of the needle-holes 25 with a transverse flat-bottomed groove 26 in which is located the thin flat cutter-blade 27, a rearwardly disposed edge-portion of which is beveled to form a knife-edge 28. The cutter-blade is fixed at its forward end to the vertical shaft 29 which is journaled in the boss 30 depending from the under side of the throat-plate. Oscillatory motion is transmitted to the shaft 29 by means of the ballcrank 31 carried by the main-shaft 9 and connected by the pitman 32 to the ball-ended pin 33 fixed to the crank-arm 34 which is adjustably secured to the shaft 29 by means of the set-screw 3 1, Fig. 3.

Fitted to the groove 26 so as to be flush with the upper surface of the throat-plate are the cutter-shielding or covering sections 35, 35 of the throatplate, which sections meet along the line 36 and are under-cut at 37, 37, respectively, to clear the cutter-blade 27. The rearward ends of the meeting edgeportions of the throat-plate sections 35, 35, are cut away to provide an aperture 38, Fig. 9, leading to the protected space in which the cutter 27 oscillates. The side walls of the aperture 38 are beveled as shown at 39, 39, Figs. 1 and 5, and the beveled edge-portion 39 affords a stationary cutting edge 10 which coiiperates with the knife-edge 28 of the movable cutter-blade 27 to shear the fabric.

With the'cutters located as above described it will be apparentthat the work acted upon in the usual manner by the feed-dog will pass over the cutting knives without being trimmed. Hence, in the present embodiment, means are provided for deflecting portions of the fabric out of their normal course or path of movement, as defined by the feeding mechanism, and to a position within the range of action of the cutting means or knives. In the present embodiment of the invention the fabric-deflector mechanism comprises a deflector-bar 41 which is journaled in the head 4, in parallelism with the needleand presser-bars, and to the lower end of which is adjustably fixed by the setscrew 41 the shank 12 of the deflector- 43 having a'blunt, chisel-shaped extremity 4.4 disposed directly'abeve and in registerwith the aperture 38 in the throat-plate. The shank 42 of the deflector passes between the needles 17, as shown in Fig. 8, and the presser-foot 20 is apertured at 45 to permit depression of the blunt extremity 44 of the deflector below the work-engaging surface of the throat-plate. As will be seen in Figs. 8 and 8 the deflector 43 is preferably located substantially in front of the left-hand needle 17. It will be observed that the fabric engaging or operative extremity of the deflector 43 substantially abreast of the operative or. fabric cutting edges 28 and 40 of the trimming mechanism; the deflector thereby operating to prevent upward displacement of the fabric at the trimming point while it is being acted upon by the trimming knives.

Fixed to the cleflectorbar 41 is 'a collar 46 which sustains the endwise thrust of a relatively stiff spring 47 which surrounds the deflector-bar 41 and at its upper. end bears against the sleeve 48 slidablymounted on said deflector-bar. Fixed to the bar 41 in contact with the upper extremity of the sleeve 48 is a. collar 49. carrying a lateral arm 50, forked to embrace the presserbar 21, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. Integral with the sleeve 48 is the lateral arm 51, the free end of which projects through the vertical guide-slottl in the rearward side wall of the head 4. The arm 51 is provided with a slot or slideway 52 in which is fitted a slideblock .53 pivoted to the crank-arm 14 by means of the crank-pin 54. Thus it will be seen that as the needle-actuating shaft 13 is oscillated to raise and lower the needles, the deflector-bar will be raised and lowered through the action of the oscillatory crankpin 54, on the lateral-arm 51. The presserbar has secured thereto a collar 55 which is adapted to lift the forked arm 50 and deflector-bar 41 whenever the presser-foot is lifted, thus insuring that the deflector 43 will be lifted well above the throat-plate during the insertion or removal of work.

To render the trimming mechanism effective and ineffective at different times while the machine is in operation, means are pro vided in the present instance for preventing the depression of the deflector by the above described connections with the needle driving shaft. Such means are preferably'manually controlled. Fixed to the collar 46 is a lateral pin 56 carrying at its extremity a roller 57 which is adapted to be lifted and detained in elevated posit-ion by means of the hand-operatedcam-lever 58; the latter being shaped to lift the deflector-bar 41 high enough to provide clearance between the collar 49 and sleeve 48 when the latter is at the limit of its up-stroke. When the hand-lever 58 is. lifted, the reciprocating sleeve 48 will serve merely to repeatedly compress the spring 41 while thedeflectorbar remains stationary in ineffective or elevated position. The lever 58 may be manipulated at the will of the operator while the machine is in operation to throw the trimming mechanism into or out of action.

In the operation of the machine, with the hand-lever 58 in elevated position, the work will be fed and stitched in the usual manner, without being trimmed. If it is desired to throw the trimming mechanism into action without stopping the machine, the operatorthe end of its return movement, reverses its direction of motion and begins its cutting stroke. When the deflector and needles reach the limit of their downstroke, the crank 10 is passing its dead-center position and the crank-pin 54 is at substantially its deadcenter position relatively to the slot 52. As a result, the deflector 43 is caused to dwell appreciably in its depressed position, Fig. 4, while the knife 27 is at substantially the central part of its cutting stroke and is moving rapidly from the position shown in. Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5, to slice or shear off the apex 59 of the angle or corrugation produced in the lower ply 60 of material by the deflector 43. In the present instance, the shank 42 of the deflector is adjusted lengthwise of the deflector-bar 41 so that the deflector will depress the lower ply 60 only within the range of action of the cutting means, without depressing the upper ply 61 far enough to be out. p

The cutter-blade 27 maybe adjusted relatively to the crank-arm 34 by loosening the set-screw 84 and turningthe vertical. shaft 29 to slightly retard or advance the position of thclcutter-blade 27 relatively to the stationary cutting edge 40 at the time the deflector 43 dwells in its lowest position. In some cases it may be desirable to slightly retard the action of the blade 27 so that it will move far enough to cause its rearward extremity-27 to sink into and catch hold of the material at the apex of the corrugation in theunder ply while the deflector 43 dwells, but will not actually begin to cut the under ply until the deflector has risen slightly and permitted a slight upward movement of the upper ply. The adjustments described obviously permit of the ready adaptation of the machineto various classes of work.

- It will be clear that the cutting means, in severing the lower ply 60 of material at the apex 59 of the corrugation therein, will remove a narrow strip 62 of material, shown in cross-section in Fig. 5. The strip 62 or in other words, the trimmings, will pass downwardly through the aperture 68 in the throat-plate and into the trimming chute 64 which leads downwardly and outwardly to the exterior of the machine.

' The removal of the strip 62 from the body and between the edges of the under ply 6O affords a space 65 between the out, edges 66, 66, Fig. 6. As the work is fed away from the cutting means, the cut edges pass the stitching point at opposite sides of the lefthand needle-path; the left-hand needle 17 entering the space between said out edges while the right-hand needle penetrates the lower ply 60 near the cut edge 66 thereof. The looper 18 will, of course, cooperate with the needles 17 to lay'the covering thread 67 of the well known two-needle and looper covering seam across the cut edge 66 of the lower ply and bind it against the uncut ply 61. g

The major portion of the fabric passing through the machinelies substantially in a common plane and only a very small fabricportion is depressed below the plane of the throat-plate. The aperture or slot 38 in the throat-plate is closed at both ends, as shown in Fig. 9, and the rearward end wall 68 of the slot 38 lifts the cut edges 66, 66' into the plane of the undeflected body-fabric at a point in advance of the needles.

The present fabric feeding and cutting mechanism is believed to be the first embodying a fabric cutter which is mounted in a normally ineffective position together with a'fabriodefiector for shifting the fabric out of its normal path of movement as defined by the feeding mechanism and to a position within the range of action of the cutter.

While I have shown and described a machine embodying the invention in its preferred form, I do not wish to be limited to the exact form and arrangement of parts illustrated as various modifications, alterations, substitutions, and the like will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is 1. In a sewing machine, in combination, a trimming knife effective in a position removed from the general plane of the work, means for deflecting a portionof the body between the edges of one of a plurality of superposed plies to said knife, and means for securing the cut ply to the body of an uncut ply between the edges of the latter.

2. In a sewing machine, in combination, a trimming knife effective in a position removed from the general plane of the work,

means at the trimming point for deflecting a portion of the body between the edges of one of a plurality of superposed plies to said knife, and means for securing the cut ply to the body of an uncut ply between the edges of the latter.

3. In a sewing machine, in combination, a trimming knife effective in a position removed from thegeneral plane of the work, means for deflecting a portion of the body between the edges of one of a plurality of superposed plies to said knife, means for securing the cut ply to the body of an uncut ply between the edges of the latter, and means for rendering the presenting means effective or ineffective at the will of the operator. 7

4. In a sewing machine, in combination, a trimming knife having a field of action removed from the general plane of the work, a fabric-bender, automatic means for moving said fabric-bender to deflect a portion of the body between the edges ofone of a plurality of superposed plies into the field of action of said knife, and stitch-forming mechanism for securing the cut ply to the body of an uncut ply between the edges of the latter.

5. In a sewing machine, in combination, trimming mechanism for cutting a narrow strip of material from the body and between the edges of one of a plurality of superposed plies, and covering stitch forming mecha nism for securing the out ply to an uncut ply, said stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle adapted to enter the space between the cut edges afforded by the removal of said strip;

6. In a sewing machine, in combination, trimming mechanism for cutting a narrow strip of material from the body and between the edges of one of a lurality of superposed plies, and a two-needle and looper mechanism for securing the material of the cut ply at one side of the cut to the uncut ply, one of the needles being positioned to enterthe uncut ply and pass through the space afforded by the removal of said strip, the other needle being positioned to pass through both the cut and uncut plies, and the looper serving to laya covering thread across the out edge of material passing between the needles. e V

7. In a sewing machine, in combination, a throat-plate, trimming mechanism including a knife operating below thethroat-plate, means for deflecting a ridged portion between the edges of one of a plurality of superposed plies below said throat-plate within the range of action of said knife, whereby the latter operates to cut a narrow strip of material from the body of said one of the plurality of superposed plies, and stitch-forming mechanism for securing the out ply to an'uncut ply.

8 In trimmingmechanism for sewing machines, in combination, fabric-feeding mechanism, a cutting element occupying a normally ineffective position, and a fabric-deflector substantially abreast of said cutting element for moving a ply of body fabric out of its normal course or path of movement and to a position wherein it will be severed by said cutting element.

9. Automatic trimming mechanism for sewing machines having in combination, fabric feeding mechanism, a cutting element occupying a normally ineffective cutting position and a reciprocating fabric-tie flector for moving a ply of body-fabric out of its normal course or path of movement and to a position wherein it will be acted upon by said cutting element.

10. In trimming mechanism for sewing machines, in combination, fabric-feeding mechanism, a cutting element occupying a normally ineffective position, a fabric-deflector for moving the fabric out of its normal course or path of movement and to a position wherein it will be acted upon by said cutting element in said normally ineffective position and means for rendering said fabric-deflector effective or ineffective while the machine is in operation.

11. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, a worksupport having a work-engaging surface, feeding mechanism for advancing a body fabric over said work-engaging surface, a horizontally acting fabric-cutting element disposed below said work-engaging surface, and a fabric-deflector disposed above the work and formed with a downwardly directed fabric-deflecting ridge the crest of which lies in a planesubstantially parallel with the plane of action of the fabric-cutting element.

12. Trinnning mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, a throatplate formed with an aperture, fabric-feeding mechanism, a knife mounted below the upper surface of said throat-plate, means for reciprocating said knife across said aperture, and a deflector having a smooth fabric engaging surface for pressing a portion of body-fabric into said aperture and within the range of action of said knife.

13. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, a horizontally acting trimmer, means for feeding the fabric past the trimmer while maintaining the fabric at a level beyond the range of action of saidtrimmer, and a fabric-deflector operating at the trimming point and disposed entirely at one side of the plane of action of said trimmer, whereby to deflect a portion of the fabric into the plane of action of the trimmer and back up the fabric at the trimming point.

14:. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, fabricfeeding mechanism, a work-support having a work-engaging surface, fabric-shearing elements occupying a position below said work engaging surface, means for actuating at least one of said shearing elements in a plane substantially parallel to said work-engag ing surface, and means for depressing a ply of fabric in the form of an inverted ridge below said work-engaging surface andto a position within the range of action of said shearing elements.

15. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, work-positioning means including a device for producing a corrugation in a plurality of superposed plies of body-fabric, and work-cutting means abreast of said device and including a knife for severing one ply at the apex of said corrugation.

l6. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, fabricfeeding mechanism, a work-support formed with a slot elongated in the direction of feed and having closed ends, an element above said slot for depressing a ply of fabric in the form of a rib into said slot, and a knife disposed below said slot and adaptedto sever the ribbed fabric-portion.

17. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines, comprising, in combination, a fabricsupport, fabric-feeding mechanism, a reciprocating fabric-deflector, and a reciprocating fabric-cutter cooperating with said deflector and timed to sever the fabric while held deflected by said fabric deflector.

18. In a sewing machine, in'combination, stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle, a fabric-support, fabricv feeding mechanism, a blunt ended fabricde flector reclprocating 1n synchronism with said needle, and a fabric-cutter for severing the deflected portion of fabric.

19. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, a work-. support having a worlcengaging surface, a presser-foot, feeding mechanism for advancing'fabric over said work-engaging surface, means for producing a line of fold in the fabric, cutting means for removing a strip of fabric material at the line of fold, said worksupport, presser foot and feeding mechanism operating to feed the fabric away from the cutting means with the cut edges in spaced relation. Y i i 20. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising in combination, a worksupport, a presse'r-foot, presser-foot lifting means, a feed-dog opposed to said presserfoot, a fabric-deflector mounted to reciprocate toward and from the work-support, a cutter cooperating with said deflector, and a connection between said presser-foot lifting means and said deflector for lifting the latter.

21. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, a workried thereby, a driving shaft, a yielding con- Cir nection between said driving shaftand said deflector-bar for depressing the latter, a fabriccuttercooperating with said deflector, and a lifting connection between said presserfoot lifting means and said deflector-bar.

, 22. Trimming mechanism for sewing ma chines comprising, in combination, a worksupport, a fabric-deflector, means for reciprocating said deflector including a yielding connection, a fabric-cutter cooperating with said deflector, and a stop for detaining said deflector in a position out of cooperative relation with said cutter. V

223. Trimming mechanism for sewingrmachines compising, in combination, a worksupport, fabric-feeding mechanism, a fabriccutter mounted to operate below the upper surface of the work-support, means for depressing a longitudinally folded ply of body-fabric to a position within the range of action of said cutter, and a trimming chute adapted to guide the trimmings away from the cutter.

' 24:. In a sewing machine, in combination,

, a frame including a work-supporting plate,

stitch-forming mechanism incorporated in said frame and including a reciprocating needle and a complemental loop-taker, feeding mechanism, upper and lower actuating shafts for said needle and loop-taker, respectively, a fabric-deflector having a workengaging surface elongated in the direction of feed, means actuated by said upper shaft for reciprocating said deflect-or, a fabriccutter cooperating with said deflector, and means actuated by said lower shaft for reciprocating said cutter.

25. In a sewing machine, in combination, a frame including a work-support and a head, a presser-bar, a needle-bar, and a fabric defiector bar mounted in parallelism in said head, a needle-bar driving shaft, a crank on said'shaft, a connection between said crank and the fabric-deflector bar includingn spring for yieldingly depressing said. fabric deflector-bar, a lifting connection between said presser and fabric defied torbars for insuring the elevation of said fabric deflector bar when the presser-bar is lifted, and means for detaining said deflector bar in' elevated or ineffective position while the machine is in operation.

26. Trimming mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, intermittent fabric feeding mechanism including a four-motion feed-dog, a work-supporting plate formed with a slot, a reciprocating fabric-deflector adapted to depress a portion of a body-fabric into said slot, means for actuating said deflector, including a dwellproducing connection for causing said deflector to dwell at the lower limit of its stroke, a shear-cutter mounted below the upper surface of said work-support and ineluding a knife movable in a plane substan-' tially parallel to the plane of the undei'iected body-fabric, and means for ctuating said knife timed to sever the depressed fabricportion during substantially the period of dwell of said fabric-deflector.

27. In a sewing machine, in combination, a needle reciprocating in a fixed path, a loopta-ker, straightaway feeding mechanism, a presser-foot having an apertured work-engaging surface, a throat-plate having an aperture below the aperture in said workengaging surface, and a blunt ended deflector passing through the aperture in said presser-foot and operating to deflect bodyfabric material in the form of an inverted ridge into the aperture of said throat-plate, and means below the throat-plate for severing the fabric at the apeX of the ridge.

28. In a sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism including a plurality of reciprocating needles and covering thread laying means cooperating therewith to form covering stitches, a throat-plate apertured for said needles and having a fabricreceiving aperture disposed substantially directly in front of one of the needle-apertures, a'fabricsevering knife operating below said fabric-receiving aperture and means for depressing a plurality of superposed plies into said fabric receiving aperture in the 'form of an inverted ridge to such an extentthat the knife will sever the material of the lowermost'ply at the apex of. the ridge. 7

29. The combinationof a Stitchingm'echa 'nism, a trimming mechanism including a trimming blade moving horizontally in advance of the stitching mechanism, and a fabric-deflector located substantially at the trimming point for forming a rib in the fabric and holding said rib against displacement by the trimmerblade out of'the-plane of action of the latter while the fabric is being cut. 7

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

. ALBERT H. DE VOE, 

